Drop-hammer



(No Model.)

A. W'ILZIN. DROP HAMMER. No. 447,093, Patented Feb. 24:, 1891.

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ARTHUR WILZIN, OF MlDDLETOl/VN, CONNECTICUT.

DROP-HAMMER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 447,093, dated February24, 1891. Application filed July 26 1890. Serial No. 360,019. (Nomodel.)

letters of reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the same, and which said drawings constitute part of thisspecification, and represent, in.-

Figure 1, a view in front elevation of one form which a machineembodying my invention may assume. Fig. 2 is a view of the machine intransverse section on the line a b of Fig. 1, with the ram and someminor adjuncts in plan; Fig. 3, a detached view in vertical section ofthe ram; Fig. 4:, a detached view, partly in planand partly in section,of a ram provided with another form of gripping mechanism; Fig. 5, aview in front elevation of a modified form of the devices employed fortripping the gripping mechanism to release the ram and for supportingthe same until it is allowed to fall.

I-Ieretofore free-falling drop-hammers, to which my invention relates,have usually been furnished with a plank carrying the ram at its lowerend and passing at its upper end between two revolving friction-rollersautomatically engaged with and disengaged from it by means of shiftingdevices operated by the ram itself in rising and in falling. Thesemachines have been found objectionable, in that the planks aresplintered under the continual shocks imposedupon them and must befrequently replaced at a serious expense for material and labor and witha loss of time. The said machines are also objectionable on account ofthe overhead room re quired by them for the clearance of the plank whenthe ram is raised. i

The object of my present invention 15 to overcome the objections abovereferred to and to produce a strong, compact, durable, and efficientdrop-hammer of the free-fallin g type.

With these ends in view my invention con- I "sists in the combination,with the ram of a free-falling drop-hammer, of coupling mechanismcarried thereby, and an endless traveling flexible power connection, theascending' side whereof has the ram connected with wheel being mountedon the same shaft A with a belt-pulley A driven so as to cause the cableto travel in the direction of, the arrow a. If desired, the cable may bereplaced by a belt or band or any equivalent thereof. The shaft A of theidler A is mounted in a vertically-movable box A, acting against arubber cushion A placed above it, the said 1 box and cushion beinglocated in the lower portion or anvil of the machine-frame. cushionserves to keep the cable under tension and also to prevent the shock ofthe ram from reacting upon the cable and idler.

The ram 0, which may be of any approved form and construction and isguided in the ordinary manner between the two upright posts B and B ofthe machine-frame B, is raised by the said cable and thereto temporarilyconnected with the ascending side thereof by coupling mechanism which iscarried by it and which may assume a variety of forms. That in Figs. 1,2, and 3 of the drawings acts on the principle of frictionally grippingthe cable, and consists of a grippingcam D, located in a chamber D,formed in the upper end of the ram and adapted to grip the cable betweenits nose and a gripping o1- bearing surface D projecting toward the sameinto the said chamber, through which and an aligned passage D alsoformed in the ram, the cable passes. A spring D located between thelower edge of the cam and the bottom of the chamber, exerts a constanteffort to throw the cam into gripping engagement with the cable. Thesaid cam is mounted upon a horizontal rock-shaft D journaled in the ramand provided at one of its ends which projects beyond the face of theram. with a The horizontal tripping-arm E, rigidly secured to it, andcarrying a spring locking-arm F,which cooperates with the upper end of abeveled lock.- ing-lug F ,which locks the cam in its depressed orretired position, in which it is disengaged from the cable, against theforce of the said spring. The said arm E is tripped for disengaging thecam from the cable by means of a vertically-adjustable tripping-fingerG, with which the arm engages just before the ram reaches the limit ofits upward movement, the said finger being mounted upon a vertical rodH, having its opposite ends set into elastic bearings H and H whichabsorb the shock to which it is subjected by the drop ping of the ramupon a vertically-adjustable stop-finger G, also mounted upon the rod IIand provided with a set-screw G engaging with the machine-frame, and setto limit the lateral outward movement of the finger from under the loweredge of the ram, which it supports after the gripping mechanism carriedthereby has been caused to let go of the cable under the action of thetripping-finger, the ram being so supported untilit is desired to let itfall, when the stop-finger is cleared from under it by rotating the rod,which is done through an arm H a chain H attached thereto and leadingover an idler H and a treadle attached to the chain, but not shown. Aspring H operates to automatically rotate the rod to throw thestop-finger into position to support the ram, the adjacent edge whereofis recessed to form a clearance-space H in which the inner end of thestop-finger plays clear of the tripping-arm E, carried by the ram. Theinner wall of this recess is beveled, as at H, so as to push the innerend of the stop-finger aside when the ram is raised. Just before the ramreaches the limit of its fall the outer end of its spring locking-arm Fengages with the beveled face J of a block J, mounted for verticaladjustment in a slot J formed in the post 0 of the machineframe, thesaid beveled face springing the arm so as to disengage it from thelockinglug F, and thereby permitting the spring D to act in forcing thegripping-cam to take hold of the cable. This is done when the ram is atthe bottom of its fall. Then when the ram is being lifted thetripping-arm engages with the tripping-finger to release the cable,whereby the said arm is depressed and the locking-arm elevated andcaused to ride up over the bevel of the locking-lug, from the edge ofwhich it springs over the top of the same, as shown by Fig. 1 of thedrawings, the gripping-cam being then locked in its retired position, inwhich it clears the cable. It will thus be seen that by using an endlesstraveling flexible power connection I secure a free-falling drop-hammerof simple and compact form without the drawbacks incident to using aplank.

I would have it understood that I do not limit myself to theconstruction and arrangement of parts herein shown and described.

I have before mentioned that the cable may be replaced by other forms offlexible power connection. The ram and the coupling mechanism carried byit may also be modified-as, for instance, as shown by Fig. at of thedrawings, in which the cable is designed to pass outside of the ram Kand to be gripped .by two independent gripping-arms K and K actuated byeccentrics L and L on a rock-shaf t L journaled in the ram,and rotatedby means substantially like those herein shown for rotating the shaft Dor the endless flexible power "connection may be provided withperforations, into which a finger carried by the ram maybe projected'andwithdrawn for connecting the ram with and disconnecting it from thepower connection, or the said connection might have tooth-likeprojections to be engaged by pawls or fingers carried by the ram. Themechanisms last suggested I mention as forms of coupling devices notacting on the frictional or gripping principle. The tripping andsupporting devices may also be changedas, for instance, as shown by Fig.5 of the drawings, which shows a block or carrier M, mounted forvertical adjustment upon a post M, corresponding to the post B of themachine-frame B, the said post M being provided with a vertical groove Mreceiving the inner ends of clamping-bolts M M carried by the block,which is provided with a tripping-finger N, adapted to engage with thetripping-arm E of the ram, and with a pivotal cam-faced lever 0, adaptedto engage with a face 0, set into the ram and attached at its outer endto arod P, connected at its lower end with a treadle, which is notshown, and at its upper end with a spring P which exerts aconstanteffort to lift the rod and hence throw the camface of the lever intoengagement with the ram. This tripping and supporting device is notlimited in its application to drop-hammers of the construction hereinset forth, but is applicable to drop-hammers of any type. Nor is itessential that the pivotal cam-faced lever and the tripping-finger bemounted upon the same carrier. I would therefore have it understood thatI hold myself at liberty to make such changes and alterations from theforms herein shown and described as fairly fall within the spirit andscope of my invention.

Having fully described myinvention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a free-falling drop-hammer, the combination,with the ram thereof,of coupling mechanism carried thereby, an endless traveling flexiblepower connection the ascending side whereof has the ram connected withand disconnected from it by the said mechanism, and means for actuatingthe said mechanism thereto, substantially as described.

2. In a free-falling drop-hammer, the combination, with the ram thereof,of a springactuated gripping-cam located therein, an endless tpa elingflexible power'connection IIO the ascending side whereof passes throughthe ram in range of the said cam,and means for actuating the cam torelease its grip upon the flexible connection for holdingit in itsretired position and for-releasing it to permit it to grip the saidconnection, substantially as described.

3. In a freefalling drop-hammer, the combination, with the ram thereof,of a springactuated gripping-cam located therein, a horizontalrock-shaft journaled in the ram and carrying the said cam, an'endlesstraveling flexible power connection the ascending side whereof passesthrough the rain in range of the said cam, a tripping-arm and aspringlocking-arm attached to the said shaft, and means for respectivelyengaging the said arms to retire the cam and lock it in its retiredposition and to unlock it, substantially as described.

4. In a drop-hammer, the combination, with the ram thereof, of means forraising the same, and a cam-faced lever arranged to have its cam-faceengage with the ram to support port the same in its suspended position,and 0 r a vertically-adjustable carrier for the said lever,substantially as described.

6. In a free-falling drop-l1ammer,the combination, with the ram thereof,of coupling mechanism carried by the ram, an endless 35 travelingflexible power connection the ascending side whereof is connected withand disconnected from the said mechanism, and a vertically-adj ustableblock carrying a tripping-finger and a cam-faced ram-supporting 4olever, substantially as described.

ARTHUR 'WILZIN. Witnesses:

ROBT. J. Goon, CHARLES E. POLLARD.

